Stay
by NyaSan13
Summary: Bonnibel Bubblegum, the reigning Princess of Candy Kingdom goes on a search for her friend on one particularly unfortunate night after Marceline goes missing. And nothing is the same after that.


No one can hear her gentle steps in the deep forest, she's careful and cautious, watching out for branches and rogue twigs that might snap when stepped on, graceful and fast, like a doe. Air around is chilly, crisp, silence of a late night atmosphere almost ringing in the ears, breeze fresh with smell of grass, trees and earth, and everything touched by silvering moonlight is a dreamy version of itself - sharply contrasting bright white light and deep, mystery-filled shadows, who knows what might hide in them. It's beautiful outside, on nights like this one, but Bonnibel can't stop to adore the view - she's on a mission, she needs to get this done. Marceline's missing and it's not good.

Her behavior drastically changed in the last few days and not in a good way. She was always a handful: abrasive, bombastic, aloof, careless, impossible to get close to and even more so impossible to let go of. Maybe this was a mistake, letting her so deeply in, giving her a power over Bonnibel's heart, but nothing could've been done about what they felt and how they completed each other. So now, filled to the brim with worry and unease, princess hurries through the woods that near her kingdom, looking for trouble in a girl form.

She's nowhere to be seen, that familiar thin form, floating in the air just a few feet above the ground, clad in dark garments with even darker cascade of wild, shiny hair, her trusty guitar-ax on the back. Where are you, Marcy and in what kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time? Princess's heart is raising, head swarming with an overwhelming amount of grim thoughts, one darker than the other. What if she hurt herself? What if she hurt someone else? Maybe she just left forever and will never come back? The urge to find Marceline, the aching need to see her, the desperate desire to finally figure this out burning inside Bonnibel's mind and nothing could stop her on this path. She needs to do this, she has to do it.

The clearing in the depths of woods, just a little stray from her current trail, well-lit meadow, grass, flowers and berry bushes that look so nice in daylight are now drowning in the harsh white of the full moon and only one figure could be seen. The one that made the heart skip a beat, the silhouette so familiar and dear, Bonnie would have recognized it in a billion. All caution to the wind, she runs into that clearing to see that something's off, wrong, not good. That well-known dear someone isn't alone, holding a struggling body to her face, grip forceful, contorting carcass in her hands into something unimaginable, gurgling and slurping sounds horrifyingly loud in stark silence.

"Marcy, what are you… is that a…"

Marceline turns around, like underwater, slowly and sluggishly, something's weighing her down, amorphous lump of someone's body in her embrace, chin smeared with bright red, burning and glossy, shining in the pale light of a full moon. Tossing away the lifeless corpse like a ragdoll, she's now free to move any way she pleases. Her voice is low, hoarse, strained, as she speaks without her usual tempo, tone dark and spine-chilling:

"Hello, Bonnibel. Who were you expecting to see here, on a night like this?"

"I was looking for you. What happened here? What's going on?"

"Don't you see yourself, Bonnie? I can give you a closer look."

Sinister, dark shadow of vampire's floating form consumed all the light around the princess. She's coming towards confused and terrified Bonnibel with expression that promises nothing good.

"Marcy, please, stop, this is not you! I can help, we can fix this! Please, just come back to your senses and return home with me. I'll start my lab and it'll be over soon, everything will go back to normal."

"Oh, Bonnie, dear sickly sweet Bonnie, I'm just another problem you have to take care off, right. It was always like this, I'm just your problem and you deal with me."

"No, I've never…"

"Come closer, take a look at it. Look at what a horrible monster I truly am, look at your worst nightmare - actually being right about me. You've always thought of me this way, Bonnibel, you did, maybe in a back of your mind, maybe not completely convinced, doubting those ideas and rumors but suspecting that something was wrong. And it was. You are right, again. Happy now, sweetie?"

"No, Marcy, please… That's not true, that's not it…"

"Come. To me. Now. Or I'll make you!"

Princess backs out slowly, unable to avert her eyes from vampire's face, contorted in rage and despair. She can't look away and she can't get away. Marceline closes the gap between them in one fluid movement, lunging forward like a predator, catching Bonnie by the shoulders, yanking her up a little, making her stand on tiptoes, one hand diving to clasp long bright hair before pulling into a kiss.

Their mouths collide, hard and painful, sharp fangs scraping Bonnie's lips, snake tongue parting them forcibly, violently, and there's bright, tart, piercing taste of copper, metallic, harsh, invasive, and low, pungent notes of iron, solemn and heavy, overwhelming, paralyzing, taking over all of the senses. It's like drowning in the ocean, salty and burning, bitter, hurtful, scary. The kiss is rough, one-sided, Marceline's hands clutching princess's shoulders and hair, as she smears red over their faces even more.

Once released from the horror clasp Bonnie covers her mouth with the palm of her hand, staring in disbelief and revulsion at her friend's face, tears welling in the eyes.

"Remind me again, Bonnie, is color pink on a red spectrum? Because I still feel famished and considering doing something about that."

She's getting closer, floating towards the princess, expression sinister and hungry. Bonnibel tries to scream, tries to run but it's pointless, her legs don't move and her voice is gone. Struggling is useless and the Vampire Queen closes the gap between them with ease, whispering lowly, huskily

"You are mine now, Bonnie, only mine, forever and ever. And you'll stay like this."

Last thing princess sees is a pair of sharp fangs, gleaming in the light and stars in Marceline's empty black eyes.

She wakes up with a scream, shaking, trying so hard to breath in, hands trembling and face wet, terrified. Bolting upright in her bed, in her room, back in reality, she can't stop shivering and sobbing, that moment flashing before her over and over again. Soft murmur and an unexpected touch make her jolt, sharply turning.

"What happened, Bonnie? Are you alright?"

It's Marcy, her Marcy, in that old worn out band t-shirt, pulling in for a hug, running fingers through her hair, rubbing calming circles on her back. Bonnibel breaks down, weeping openly, bawling her eyes out, clutching her closest, most beloved person, sane, safe and sound, smelling of home, familiar, close. They stay like this for a while, Marceline whispering sweet nothings into her ear, petting her, letting Bonnibel empty her tears.

Eventually, only raspy uneven breathing breaks the silence, as princess slowly comes to herself. Soft reassuring hum of Marcy's voice finally forms into coherent words:

"It's okay, I'm here. It was just a dream. Nothing's gonna hurt you, Bonnie, I'm with you and will always be with you. Forever and ever."

Bonnibel repeats it like a spell

"Forever and ever, we'll stay together, like everything's stays."


End file.
